Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
by EmilyAnnCoons
Summary: A novelization of the game Twilight Realm written in first person. Features a female Link, along with some IliaxLink, LinkxMidna, and maybe some ZeldaxLink. Rated T for violence, language, and mild sexual themes.
1. A Girl Named Link

A/N: I'd like you to stop for a second and read this note. This story is a first-person view on Twilight Princess that features a female Link instead of the typical male. If you have a problem with violence, sexual themes of any sort, cussing, or even (for you idiots) Link being female, stop reading now. I am writing this story my way, and if you don't like it, then please leave. Also, this story will feature some IliaxLink, MidnaxLink, and perhaps even some ZeldaxLink (yes, that means two girls being in love). If you have problems with that, then also leave, because this is how the story will be written and I will not change it. With that, you are now free to begin reading Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess so long as you have agreed that you will take no offense to the above. Also, please review once you've finished. =D  


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**Chapter 1: A Girl Named Link**

Have you ever felt it, the sadness that seems to come before dusk? They say that, for a single hour, we can feel the sorrow of those spirits who left our world. That's why sadness always seems to come before the Hour of Twilight. Twilight…how I miss that girl I met those several years ago.

Who am I you ask? My name is Link Marian Ysond. Back when I was seventeen, I ended up on a grand journey. People call it the "Legend of the Twilight Princess" now. Imagine that, though, only thirty years and it's already just a legend. No one believes my story…not the twilight part anyway. They believe about the monsters, but not about the wolf and the twilight, or even the part where I fought the evil king.

What's that? You'd like to hear the story? I don't really think it's worth telling, you won't believe any of it anyway. You're sure? Well…if you're willing to listen and to try to believe what I say, then I suppose I could tell the story, but where would I begin? Sure, "at the beginning" is an easy thing to say, but where does the story truly begin? Does it begin at the start of the adventure? Or does it begin before that? Let me think a moment…I think…I might know where to begin.

I grew up on the farmlands of Ordon. We didn't have much in those lands. To be honest, there were really only a handful of us. Ordon was far to the south of Hyrule, through the Faron Woods. If you didn't have a horse, it was probably a good week long trip or so from Hyrule. At least, it was back when the bridges were still there. Since the destruction of the Bridge of Eldin, Ordon hasn't had as many visitors from Hyrule, not that we had many to begin with.

I guess the story starts when I was seventeen. I had a job at the ranch in Ordon herding goats. I was employed there by a guy named Fado. The truth was, he employed me because he was fairly incompetent when it came to herding. Whenever it was my day off, I usually ended up working to keep the goats from escaping the ranch. Being a girl, most people wouldn't think I'd have the strength to stop an oncoming goat, as well as toss it aside and turn it back to the ranch, but I did. It came from practice really, always working at it.

In either case, I guess the story truly starts one day, during dusk. I had been spending most of the day aiding a guy named Rusl. He was the best swordsman in all of Ordon, and he had been training me to also use one. To be honest, he was surprised when a girl like me had an interest in swords, but, when I asked over and over again, he eventually took me under his wing and taught me what he knew.

Rusl had given me a wooden sword for practice, and believe me, when I wasn't working at the ranch, I was usually practicing. I wanted to be just as good at the sword as Rusl was. Unfortunately, his wife, Uli, was expecting another child soon, so lessons and training had been cut down severely.

Rusl and I had been training in the Faron Spring, which is on the Faron-Ordon border. The two of us had gotten worn out from our training, and so had sat down at the spring to relax and let ourselves rest for the trip back. We had talked for some time about many different things until finally he asked me a question.

"I have an errand to run in Hyrule in a few days," Rusl began. "I'm supposed to deliver something to Hyrule Castle." He turned to look at me, and I turned to look at him. "You've never been to Hyrule, have you?"

"No," I spoke. "I've never been out of these woods."

Rusl shook his head. "You should go, then. There's so much to see. How about this? The mayor entrusted me to deliver the package to Hyrule, but I think you're more then capable enough to do it as well. I'll talk to the mayor and see if he'll let you go in my stead, so then you can see Hyrule and the world. Does that sound okay?"

I nodded. "That sounds fine. What's Hyrule like anyway?"

"Well, there's a huge castle in the center. That's where the Crowned Princess Zelda rules from. There's also a huge town with people everywhere. It can sometimes be so crowded you have to squeeze through people just to get anywhere."

"Wow…"

"But, that's just the town and the castle. There's also the rest of Hyrule, as well as the whole rest of the world the Goddesses created."

"Has anyone ever seen it all?"

Rusl laughed. "The world is huge, Link. I don't think that anyone could ever see it all in one lifetime."

"Well, I'll certainly try my best," I spoke and gave a nod. I was determined to see all there was since I had the chance.

Rusl laughed. "Well, we'll see, eh?" He patted my back and looked up into the sky. "How are things with you and Ilia?"

I turned quite red at that question. "F-fine," I stuttered and looked away.

"Just fine?"

"G-good…and fine…"

"Good and fine?" Rusl laughed again. "Have you even told her how you feel about her?"

"N…no…" I sighed. See, there was this girl in Ordon named Ilia. She was really quite beautiful, probably the most beautiful woman I had met at the time. Her hair was short and brown, similar to mine, though she kept the back of it in a sort of weird ponytail. I'm not entirely sure how she managed the hairstyle. We had been friends since we were young, and I had fallen in love with her. I know that may same a little strange, a girl loving another girl, but it's how it happened.

Rusl stood to his feet and stretched. "We should be making our way back."

"R-right," I spoke, trying to calm myself down. We packed up our gear and made our way back to Ordon Village. When we arrived, I went to put Epona away, but I was stopped.

"Link! Epona's all dirty!" Ilia shouted at me, making me jump. She had managed to sneak up on me. "You can't be thinking of putting her away for bed like that, can you?"

"Well…err…" Ilia always seemed to be able to win battles with me. Maybe it was because I loved her so much I didn't want to fight with her, but whatever the case, I rarely won a battle with her.

"Honestly! You've been traveling and training all day. Epona's a filthy mess, and you just want to put her away for bed instead of cleaning her properly first!"

"Ilia…I'm tired, ok?" I spoke, hoping to get her off my back. "I've been training all day, and I need a rest, okay?"

"Fine." Ilia folded her arms over her chest and turned. She then snatched Epona's reigns from my hand. "Come along, Epona. It's obvious Link doesn't care about keeping you clean."

I sighed as I watched them walk off. "Link, you dumby," I spoke to myself and hit my head upon the ladder to my house. "Dumby, dumby, dumby." I sighed and slouched down onto the ground. "I just can't argue with such a beautiful woman…Now if only she wasn't a mayor's daughter…"

"What's wrong with that?" a male voice spoke and I looked up. Much to my surprise, Fado was standing there.

"Nothing…"

"Something must be if you said 'if only she wasn't a mayor's daughter'."

"No, really, it's nothing…you wouldn't understand."

"Well, I need help herding these goats…it's time to get them into the pen, but they won't budge…Think you could get Epona and help?"

I sighed. This wasn't a surprise to be honest. "I guess…I'll see if Ilia will even let me go near Epona."

"Ilia has Epona?"

I nodded. "Took her to be cleaned; said I didn't care about her if I was going to put her away without cleaning her up."

"Harsh…" Fado spoke and I nodded, then stood to my feet.

"Well, I'll go look for her. They're probably at the Ordon Spring."

"All right, just meet me at the ranch then with Epona."

"I will, Fado." With that, I turned and headed off to where the Ordon Spring was, which wasn't too far from the Faron Spring. When I reached it, I saw Ilia there, grooming Epona. Both her and Epona looked so happy, and at my arrival, I noticed Epona seemed even happier.

"There, she's all clean," Ilia spoke as she looked over at me. "You should treat Epona better…she's a girl, just like the rest of us, you know?"

"I…I know," I spoke.

"Good." Ilia turned and pet Epona as she smiled. "So, I'll guess you didn't come here to help clean her. You probably need Epona for something, right?"

"Y-yeah…"

"Well, she is your horse, so take her. However, please treat her a bit more gently." I nodded in response then walked over to Epona and pet her. She neighed happily and I smiled, then turned to look at Ilia again. I kind of got myself lost there, though. Whenever I would look at her for a length of time, I'd find myself lost in my mind. I wanted her. I wanted to hug her, to kiss her, to love her, but did she want that for me? I ended up staring at her for a good few minutes, which caused her to give me a weird look. "What are you staring at?"

"N-nothing!" I spoke up quickly, turning rather red.

Ilia turned to look in the direction I had been staring, but she didn't realize my gaze had been upon her. "I don't see anything back there to stare at…"

"L-like I said, it was nothing." I rubbed the back of my neck nervously.

Ilia shrugged. "You're weird sometimes, Link."

"I know…" I looked away. I grabbed onto the saddle, then turned back to look at Ilia again. She still hadn't looked at me. My heart began beating quickly, and I fought to keep myself under control. Just a hug…that wasn't so much, was it? She'd be okay with that, right? Maybe… I reached out, my hands gently moving around her waist. I closed my eyes and pulled her close, which startled her a little.

"L-Link?" Ilia asked and turned her head to look at me. "Wh-what?"

"I…" I let go of her and turned away. "I don't know why I did that…I'm sorry…"

Ilia seemed to stare at me for a moment, then smiled. "No need to apologize," she spoke then grinned. Next thing I knew, she had wrapped her arms around me and pushed me to the ground. I then found that her grip on me tightened into a sort of snuggle. I just stared, unsure of what to do. "It's been a while, Link," she then spoke. "You stopped hugging me years ago…I've missed it…Why did you stop?"

"I…that is…" I looked away. I couldn't admit the truth. "I…don't know…" I sighed. Now wasn't the time to think, I needed to act. I wrapped my arms around her and closed my eyes as I pulled her into an embrace. What surprised me is how we stayed that way for several minutes. It probably would have been longer if Fado hadn't burst in on us. I think he got impatient, though, and went to find me. After all, dusk was nearing its end and the goats were still out.

After that, Ilia and I went about our ways and I returned with Fado to help him herd the goats back into the pen. Once we were done, I returned to my house to sleep, but I couldn't sleep. I laid there in bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking. Ilia was always on my mind, and I thought of her the whole night through. In the end, I managed to fall asleep, but not for long as I was rudely awakened a few hours later by a loud voice.

"Link!" the voice shouted and I groaned. "Link! Are you seriously still sleeping? Wake up!" I groaned and sat up, rubbing my eyes.

"Who the hell is out there this early?" I asked and slowly got out of bed. I peered out the window, and much to my surprise, it was Malo, Talo, and Beth. These three were the kids who lived in Ordon at the time. Malo and Talo were the sons of Jaggle and Pergie. They weren't the most important people in all of Ordon, but everyone is family there, and we all did our part. Beth, however, was the daughter of Hanch and Sera, who were the local shopkeepers.

"Link!" Talo shouted, and I realized it was him who was shouting before.

"What is it, Talo?" I called out through the window.

"Link, you're awake, great! We've got something to show you, come down here!"

I sighed. "All right, I'm coming." I changed, then headed outside. I climbed down the ladder that lead up to my house, then turned to look at the kids. "So, what have you kids got to show me today?"

Talo rose a stick in his hand. "Look! It's a wooden sword!"

I giggled. "Really now? Looks pretty impressive, but do you know how to use it?"

"I…" Talo began to speak with enthusiasm, but then he stopped and looked down. "No…"

I giggled a bit more. "Well, then, I'll just have to teach you."

"Really?" Talo shouted and a huge smile appeared on his face.

"Certainly, but, you have to pay attention. I'll only do this once, understand?"

"All right!" With that, I went back into my house and got my own wooden sword out. I then returned to the kids and gripped it in my hands.

"All right, now then, there's a lot of basic movements to sword fighting, but in a real fight, you'll need more then that. Before you can learn anything else, you need to know the basics, though." With that, I began to swing my sword in the way I had been taught. I spent the next hour or so just showing the children sword moves.

"That was great!" Talo shouted and smiled. "You're really great with that sword!"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Nah, Rusl is still way better then me. So, then, let's see you do what I showed you. Come at me!" I readied my sword and waited for Talo to make the first move. He swung and I quickly blocked it with. I noticed as we fought that Talo's stick was rather sturdy. I had been going light at first, hoping not to break it, but when I realized how sturdy it was, I fought a little harder, giving him a real feel for combat.

It was a few minutes before Talo was tuckered out and I laughed. "Tired already?"

"How do you…do that?"

"What? Fight as much as I do? Practice. If you keep practicing every day for longer periods each day, you'll get stronger, and your stamina will grow. If your stamina grows, you'll be able to fight longer without wearing out."

Talo looked down at his stick. "Awesome. Then, I'll definitely do that!"

"Hey!" Beth shouted, pointing away from us. "It's one of those monkeys!"

"A monkey?" Talo asked and turned. "Those mischievous things have been causing all kinds of trouble lately."

"Yeah, Colin's Mom had her baby basket stolen by one of them," Malo spoke. "Good think Link got it back."

"Link's so great!" Beth spoke up and smiled.

"Yeah, she really is," Talo spoke then looked up to me and smiled. "All right! I'll go after that monkey before it causes any trouble!"

"Talo, wait!" I spoke up, but he didn't listen. I watched as he charged forward, scaring the monkey away and into the Faron Woods. Talo didn't stop there, though, and continued to give chase.

"Talo!" Malo and Beth shouted and rushed after him.

"Beth! Malo!" I shouted and growled. "Damn it…" I sighed. "Kids these days…they can be a pain in the ass…but the Faron Woods have been dangerous lately, I should go after them." I quickly snatched up a piece of grass from nearby and held it to my mouth. I blew into it and at once Epona came rushing to my side. You see, I had taught Epona a special song a while back, one that if I played on a special kind of grass would cause her to come running to me. With that, I quickly hopped onto Epona and kicked her a little to make her rush forward. "Let's go!"

We rushed forward into the Faron Woods. I didn't figure the kids could have gotten too far, which meant I should have been able to catch up to them. That was, until I stopped at the border between Ordon and Faron and found both Malo and Beth standing there, looking horrified. "What's going on?"

"Talo…he was…was…" Beth started to speak, then covered her eyes and began to cry.

"What happened?" I was getting mad to be honest. After hearing those words, my heart was filled with worry. Especially if whatever it was that happened was making Beth cry. I only knew a few things that could do that, and I didn't like the idea of one of them.

"Something…I don't know what…" Malo began, "…it appeared out of nowhere and attacked Talo and the monkey. Talo got knocked out…and then it took them away!"

I growled and turned forward. "Where did they go?"

"Deep into the Faron Woods. Link, be careful!"

"I will." I kicked Epona again and the two of us rushed forward. "Talo, I'm coming!" I shouted. We rushed with all the speed we could muster. Epona always seemed to be able to understand my feelings, and now, when I was anxious and wanted to rescue Talo, Epona felt those feelings. I didn't even have to ask and she raced forward with all of her might.

We rushed deep into the Faron Woods, all the way to where an ancient temple was said to be hidden, though I had never seen such a thing myself. As we raced forward, we discovered exactly what had attacked Talo and captured him. They were weird purple creatures with large stomachs and pig-like faces. They wielded a single sword, but unlike mine, theirs were real. This was going to complicate things quite a bit, but I knew I still had to try.

"I'm coming!" I shouted and quickly drew my wooden sword once more. I rushed right into the middle of the monsters and knocked them down with my sword. Epona then quickly trampled over them, and much to my surprise, as each monster fell, they seemed to instantly decay into dust. "Magic?" I asked, growling. "What kind of sorcery is this?"

I turned forward, seeing even more of these creatures coming towards me. I made Epona rush forward once more and I quickly dispatched the monsters as we rushed them. Finally, we made it to where the temple was said to be hidden. Even now, this close to it, I still didn't see it, but what I did see was Talo and the monkey in a wooden cage. "Talo!" I shouted.

"Link! Thank the goddesses you're here!" Talo shouted.

"I'm coming, Talo!" I shouted and Epona rushed forward. More of the creatures from before appeared before me, and I quickly dispatched them. However, one did manage to get a hit on, and it wasn't on me. Epona reared back as the beast's sword grazed her side. I was thrown back and onto the ground, and Epona collapsed in front of me. She and I had a connection, and I could feel her pain. I growled as I quickly stood to my feet and the creature turned to me.

"Come at me!" I shouted. The creature roared. I noticed it seemed fairly unintelligent, in that these creatures so far had never spoken. They're language seemed to consist of roars, and their only tactics for battle were "kill". It rushed at me and I quickly knocked it back with my sword. I then whirled around and struck it hard in the chest with my sword, and while I couldn't stab the creature properly, a good hard stab to the chest with even a wooden sword would do quite a bit of damage.

The beast roared and I brought my sword around, striking it in the head. I then heard a satisfying snap as I managed to break the creature's neck. It decayed away into dust like the others and I sighed. I quickly rushed to Talo's side and looked over the cage. It was a crude device, obviously built up around them. There was no way to get them out without breaking the cage.

I mustered my strength and stared hard at the cage. I balled up my fists, readying myself to attack. I then brought my hand out straight and hit the cage with the side of my hand, causing the wooden bars to splinter apart. I did this with each bar until I had broken it down enough to get Talo and the monkey free. "Oh, thank you so much for saving me!" Talo shouted and hugged me.

"What the hell were you thinking?" I shouted at him and he jumped back, wincing. I growled. "You know Faron Woods are off limits to you children! They're dangerous, and filled with all kinds of monsters!"

Talo looked away. "I know…I'm sorry…"

"Sorry?" I shouted. "You're 'sorry'? That's the best you can do? You could have been killed, or worse! Something terrible could have happened to you! If I hadn't come here…" I turned away and growled again. It was very rare that my anger ever rose to these levels. I guess you could say the whole thing had caused me to get so worried that, now that Talo was safe, I could only react with anger towards him putting himself in such danger. I took a deep breath and exhaled. "Forget it…let's just head home…"

I made my way over to Epona, who could sense my current emotion. She seemed sad that I was in such a state, but also happy to see we were all safe. She nuzzled against me for a moment, as if trying to say "it'll all be okay". I pet Epona and smiled a little, my anger going down. "Thanks," I spoke to her and she nodded. Even though I she couldn't speak Ordonian, since she was just a horse, I understood her anyway.

"Let's go," I spoke rather roughly to Talo and he nodded.

"Bye," Talo spoke and waved to the monkey. "She's not so bad, actually…I misjudged her…"

"An important lesson to learn, Talo. You cannot judge people or animals by the actions of others just like them."

"I know that now…" Talo looked down at his hand, where a broken stick now sat. "That creature trashed my sword, too…"

"You'll have to get a new one. Maybe ask Rusl, see if he can fashion you a real wooden sword."

"You think he would?"

I shrugged. "Who knows? All you could do is ask."

"All right, I'll do that!" The rest of our trip back was fairly silent. When we made it back, the children rushed ahead, and I sighed, hanging back some.

"I'm sorry, Link," a voice spoke and I turned. Rusl was making his way up to me now. "Such a responsibility should not have fallen on you."

"How did you know?"

"Colin had been nearby at the time. He's timid, but trying to learn courage. He watched you from a distance when you taught Talo how to fight earlier. He's been practicing since then. He also saw the kids run into the woods, so he came and told me and their parents."

"I can imagine, then, that Jaggle is going to give them a scolding…"

Rusl nodded. "More then likely."

I sighed. "I got really angry today…the whole thing…it set me off…I yelled at Talo pretty badly…"

Rusl set his hand upon my shoulder. "It's natural. You were filled with worry, and that made you angry. It happens to all of us, Link. It's nothing to worry about."

I sighed. "Maybe you're right…I just…know what you told me…about my birthmark…"

Rusl nodded. "The symbol on your left hand is a special mark saying you will be great one day."

"But what if I'm not?"

Rusl laughed. "Link, please, you're better then most of us here in Ordon at anything we do. You're a skilled swordswoman, you saved the children, you're better at Fado at herding goats."

"Anyone can herd goats better then Fado."

Rusl chuckled. "I couldn't herd a goat to save my life. If it was a match between me and one of them goats, if I didn't use my sword to slay the creature, I'd probably get torn apart by its horns and run over by its hooves. You, however, take the goat by the horns and toss it aside like it was nothing. Only you and Mayor Bo can do that, no one else here can."

"I suppose you're right about that one."

Rusl turned to look forward. "Ilia's been worried about you."

"She has? Why?"

"Because, she cares about you, just like you care about her."

My eyes went wide and I turned to look at Rusl. "Wh-what did you say?"

Rusl chuckled. "Ilia may not show it often, but she cares for you more then anything. I think…you two were meant for each other."

"But…is that really okay? I mean…she's a girl…and so am I."

"So? In none of the laws passed down by the Goddesses did they ever say two girls loving one another was evil. In fact, if such a thing was truly so evil, it would be impossible. Love is never wrong. When you feel it, that love is right. Even if the person does not return your feelings, your love for them is still right and true."

I sighed and looked down. "I suppose that's true…"

"Hey, don't look so down. Ilia loves you. I think that, if you tried to make a move, you'd find it very rewarding."

"But…how does one do that? How did you and your wife get together?"

"That?" Rusl laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. "That's actually…her fault…"

"Eh?"

"We were friends…and we were enjoying a beautiful day at Lake Hylia. As the sun began to set, we began to talk about heading home, but before we did, she said she had something important to say. I wondered what it was, but she never spoke. Instead, she wrapped her arms around me and kissed me, and it was then that we knew we were meant for each other."

"Wow…" I looked away. "Is that really…how love works?"

Rusl nodded. "Something like that, yes. It just takes one of you to initiate it…and I think…Ilia is waiting for you, Link. I think she's actually worried you don't like her."

"Why would she think that?"

"You two have been friends a long time, and when you were younger, you two used to play together all the time. It also seemed like, when you two were younger, you were inseparable. Every time we looked, you two were hugging or cuddling. We knew then that you were meant for one another, but then, one day, you stopped it all. You started pushing Ilia away little by little. You still talked and were still friends, but your hugging slowly came to a stop. I can only assume it was because you noticed your feelings for her and weren't sure how to go about with them."

I looked down and nodded. "Yeah…that's about it."

Rusl smiled and put his hand on my shoulder. "You must not be afraid of her. She's a beautiful woman, and she's even right around your age. I think, you two would make a wonderful couple."

"You really mean that?" I asked as I looked up at Rusl.

"With my whole heart," Rusl responded back and I smiled, hugging him.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Making me believe, and giving me the courage."

Rusl shook his head. "You've always had the courage, Link. You just didn't know how to use it. You might have the most courage out of all of us, to be honest."

"You mean that, too?"

Rusl nodded. "Absolutely." I hugged Rusl again and he hugged me back. To be honest…Rusl and his wife…they were like parents to me. My parents…had disappeared many years before…and they raised me. I knew I could always count on them to be there when I needed them to be.

"Thank you again, Rusl," I spoke. "You really are a wonderful person, and a great father, even if you're not mine."

Rusl rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, raising you is different from raising my own kids, you know?"

"I know. Oh! And how is Uli doing, anyway? Is she ready to have the baby yet?"

Rusl chuckled. "Not yet, Link, but soon, that I'm sure."

"A third kid for you two to raise."

"Third? I only have Colin."

"Well, you did raise me from a child, so, you could say I'm your first kid in a sense."

Rusl laughed. "Very true, Link, very true."


	2. The Twilight!

**Chapter 2: The Twilight!**

It was the finally the day. Rusl had worked it all out with Mayor Bo. I was going to take Epona and take a special gift to Hyrule. This would be my first time leaving Ordon fully, as I would also be passing the Faron border and into the Eldin and Lanayru Provinces of Hyrule. "Great! You're here and ready!" Mayor Bo spoke as he welcomed me. He was a rather big man to be honest. While he was fairly fat, he was also quite bulky. I heard legends that Mayor Bo had once defeated the Goron Race in a sumo game, but I had my doubts about that.

"Yeah, I'm ready to head out," I spoke and smiled. Epona was at my side, and her wound had healed a little over the last day or two, but not much.

"Good, now then, come here a moment." Bo pulled me to the side and I noticed Ilia turned and walked over to Epona. "Be on your best behavior. This is Hyrule you're going to, not some backwater town. You'll most likely be meeting with many of the Hylian knights, and perhaps even the Princess herself. You must be punctual, and you must make a good impression, understood?"

"Of course, Mayor," I spoke and smiled. "I'm ready for this task, and I thank you for entrusting it to me."

"What the hell?" Ilia suddenly shouted and I winced. She had found the wound. "Link!" she shouted and I turned to see a very angry Ilia. She stomped up to me. "Epona is injured! How could you do such a thing to her?"

"Ilia, I-" She wouldn't let me talk.

"No, you listen here, miss! I will not accept this! Epona is not something you can use as a toy to ride around on and put so much pressure on that you injure her! What did you do? Make her jump over fences she's never managed to jump over before? Or were you playing with your sword and hit her?"

"Ilia-" Bo tried to speak.

"No!" Ilia shouted and got right in her father's face. I was surprised to see Bo back off. "You're the mayor of this town! You should be the one doing something about this, but are you? No!" She growled and turned back at me. "I'm taking Epona. You can go deliver your package without her." She took Epona's reigns and began to walk off. Epona followed willingly, and Bo and I were left staring, unable to react otherwise.

After a moment, Bo sighed and folded his arms across his chest. "Well, this is no good…if we can't use Epona, we'll never make it in time…"

"I'll go after her," I spoke. "I'm sure I can reason with her if I try."

"Very well, then, good luck." Bo slapped me on the back which almost knocked me to the ground. Every time he did that, I thought that maybe, just maybe, the rumors of his strength could be true. Regaining my composure, I quickly rushed forward. Odds were good that Ilia would have been at the Ordon spring.

"Hold it, Link!" Talo shouted as he jumped in front of me.

"Not now, Talo," I spoke and tried to push him out of the way.

"No way, Ilia says we're to guard here and not let anyone through except her."

"We?" I looked down. I hadn't even noticed Malo. He was significantly shorter then the other kids. I'd swear he was a baby with his height and his face if it weren't for the fact he talked even smarter then his older brother. "Ugh…I need to get through, guys, come on!"

"Nope, Ilia said no one gets through."

"And just what is Ilia giving you in return for this favor?"

"Money," Talo spoke, nodding.

"Figures…" I sighed.

"Hey, Link," a voice spoke and I turned around. It was Colin, son of Rusl and Uli.

"Hey, Colin…"

"Hey, Talo, Malo, what are you doing?"

"Ilia told us that no one can get through here," Talo spoke.

"Why not?" Colin asked.

"She's bathing Epona."

"In broad daylight?"

Talo nodded. "That's why no one can get through."

Colin sighed and shook his head. "Look, even if she is bathing Epona, at least let Link through…"

"Why?"

"Because, she's a girl as well, so it doesn't matter what state Ilia is in."

Talo tilted his head. "What do you mean by that?"

Colin sighed and hit his head with his hand. "Do you even know why you're guarding the path?"

"Cause Epona is getting bathed?"

Colin shook his head. "That's part of it…what do you think Ilia would have to do to bathe a horse but keep her clothes from getting wet?"

Talo blinked and thought for a second. "I don't know?"

"She has to take them off, dummy!" Colin bopped Talo on the head.

"Ow! That hurt!"

"Oh please…" Colin rolled his eyes. "The reason Ilia wants you to guard the path is so that no one can go to the spring and see her without her clothes on. Except Link is also a girl, so even though Ilia won't have clothes on, Link won't be seeing anything that she hasn't seen before."

"I still don't get it…" Talo spoke and Colin rolled his eyes.

"Let me try," I spoke and drew my wooden sword. "Talo, did you ask Rusl if he could make you a sword?"

"Yeah…he said I was too young…"

"Well, then, I'll give you mine for right now. Just don't let Rusl see you playing with it, understand?"

"Really?"

"Yeap, but you have to let me through."

"Sounds great!" I handed the sword to Talo and he showed it off to Malo. "Let's go over there and practice with it!" He rushed off and Malo followed close behind.

"Finally…" I spoke and sighed in relief.

"Was that a good idea?" Colin asked.

"Probably not…but I need to see Ilia…"

"I'll go, too."

"But…what if she's naked? Wouldn't that be bad?"

"She probably isn't. She only does that if she's really doing heavy cleaning. I'd guess that, if she took Epona away from you, it was just to keep you from getting her back."

"Well, we can find out." Colin and I rushed forward, making our way towards the Ordon border. Once at the spring, we stopped, and I pushed Colin behind me. I peeked into the spring, finding Ilia had set up the gate to keep me out. I peeked through the gate, and much to my surprise, Colin's first assumption was right. She was there, naked, just sitting in the water. "Ilia!" I shouted and she jumped.

"L-Link!" Ilia growled. "What are you doing here? Are you trying to peek on me?"

"N-no! I just wanted to talk to you."

"Well, I don't care, go away!"

"Ilia, please let Link in," Colin spoke. "She needs Epona back."

"No, not after she injured her."

Colin thought for a moment. "Link, you go around the back. There should be a small tunnel you can crawl through to get in. I'll stay here and try to talk to her, see if I can get her to understand what happened."

I nodded. "All right." I turned and rushed back. The path curved a little and I found the tunnel Colin had spoken of. I got down on my hands and knees and began to crawl into the tunnel. "Tiny tunnel…" I groaned. "Hope it doesn't shrink any…" As I crawled through the tunnel, I actually found it was well crafted. I'd guess it wasn't made by nature as it was perfectly circular and stayed the same size the whole way through. When I finally got out, I looked up, noticing Ilia had actually dressed herself.

I pulled myself out of the tunnel and patted the dirt off of me. I then slowly walked forward, noticing Ilia and Colin were still talking. After a moment, she turned to look at me. "So, that's it then…" she spoke.

I nodded. "It wasn't my fault."

Ilia sighed and looked down, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm sorry, Link…" She looked up at Epona. "I wasn't listening. I should have paid attention…" Epona seemed to neigh in response. "You think so, too, huh?" Epona neighed again. "I'm sorry…" She pet Epona, then turned back to me. "It seems that, even after being injured, she still prefers you over me…"

I slowly walked forward, stopping once I reached Ilia. "Are you okay?"

"Why are you asking a question like that? Of course I'm okay."

"No, are you really okay? You were mad earlier because of this…it may have been an injury on Epona, but I saw it hurt you, too."

Ilia nodded and turned. "I'm fine."

Suddenly, there was a loud noise, almost like that of a horn being blown. We looked back to the gate only to see a large boar bust through it. Upon the boar were two green creatures covered in leather armor. One fired off their bow and it grazed my side, knocking me down. "Link!" Ilia shouted. I was only conscious enough from there to see a second boar, clad in armor, enter as well, and upon that boar was a rather large green creature, clad also in armor and wielding a massive club. I then blacked out.

* * *

"Them," the green monster upon the armored boar spoke as it pointed at Ilia and Colin. "Take! Then, we raid!" It pulled out a horn and blew into it. The smaller green creatures rushed to Ilia and Colin but they tried to fight back. Finally, the larger monster made his way to Ilia and Colin and with one swing of his club knocked them both out. "Horse, too." One of the smaller green creatures hopped off the boar and onto Epona, who neighed furiously then began to whip around trying to knock the creature off.

"Raid!" the large beast shouted and they rushed off towards Ordon Village. Once there, they began to ransack the village. "These ones, too!" The larger monster spoke as he pointed to Talo and Malo. The monsters rushed at them and snatched them up.

"No!" Rusl shouted and rushed forward. "You will not take the children!" Rusl was thrown back by the larger creature's club and a satisfying snap was heard from his body.

"Ribs broken, you get in way again, you die!" the larger monster spoke, then turned. "We finished! Children are ours!"

"Not so fast!" Bo shouted as he jumped in front of the monsters. "Come at me if you so dare!"

"Run him over!" the large monster shouted and one of the boars rushed forward. Bo quickly planted his feet and brought his hands up, grabbing the boar by the tusks. He stopped the beast in its tracks, then proceeded to pull the boar over, knocking it to the ground and crushing its riders. "You strong, but not strong enough!" The large monster rushed Bo, but Bo grabbed hold of the boar's tusks, stopping it as well.

The large creature laughed as Bo tried to push the boar over, but the weight of its rider was too much. With a quick swing, Bo was knocked back and to the ground. "Get in way again, and all die!" the monster shouted. "Now, we leave!" The creatures rushed off, making their way back into the Faron Woods and off to where they had come from. It was a moment later before Link groaned and began to awaken.

* * *

"Damn…my side…" I groaned as I sat up, gripping my side. "What the hell happened to those creatures?" I looked around, noticing the spring was empty. I could only assume Ilia, Colin, and Epona had either run, or had been captured. I stood to my feet slowly and walked out of the spring. I saw their tracks, they led back to the village, but then, they led off to Faron. I quickly turned and rushed towards Faron, but what awaited me was something most abnormal. I stopped in my tracks and stared as a wall of darkness lied before me.

Upon this wall were strange symbols, and I began to step back, unsure of what lied before me. Suddenly, a large hand reached out of the wall and grabbed me. I felt myself pulled towards the wall, and soon found myself tossed through it. The hand then retracted, pulling me towards a huge monster of some sort. It was huge and black and had, what seemed to be, a shield for a head.

I struggled to break free, but something inside of me began to change. I saw my left hand began to glow, and the three triangles upon my hand began to glow. The monster threw me away and covered its face from the light. I felt pain surge through my body as my body shook. I didn't know what was happening at the time, but I was changing.

Suddenly, it felt like my skin was shed, and my hands turned into paws. My legs changed as well, and my body seemed to become covered in fur. I felt a tail sprout from my backside, and finally, my face changed. I didn't know it at the time, but my human form had been shed and I was now locked in the form of a gray wolf. My body ached, and my feet became unsteady. I collapsed from the pain and returned to unconsciousness.

It was some time later before I awoke. At once I noticed the smell of something rotting not too far away. I groaned as I tried to sit up, but I soon found that impossible. I was shocked when I looked down upon myself and saw my new wolf form. I knew something had changed about me, but I hadn't expected to become an animal.

"Okay, calm down, Link," I spoke in my head. "You'll get yourself out of here…as soon as you figure out how to walk." I pushed myself up onto all fours and my legs wobbled. This was a new experience, and a whole new sense of balance needed to be acquired. Once on my feet, I looked around, noticing I was in a cell of some sort. "Where the hell is this place?" were my exact thoughts.

I slowly made my way forward, watching every movement, examining what made me go off balance and what did not. During the process, I discovered one of my legs was chained to the middle of the floor when I stepped too far and yanked my foot out from underneath myself. "This…is going to take some getting used to."

"Hey, you!" a female voice suddenly shouted and I got to my feet. I looked outside the cage and there, floating in mid-air was an imp of a creature. Her skin was pale white, but at the same time, it seemed to meld into a black color that covered other parts of her body. Her eyes were orange in color, and the whites of her eyes were yellow. Her hair was fire red and about as long as her head, which was twice the size of her body. A crown of sorts made of stone rested upon her head. The crown was gray and appeared rather old. It went up from the top of her head into two large, horn-like pieces which had strange symbols all over them. One part of the crown had a stone eye upon it and it seemed to cover her right eye.

I pulled myself back into a battle pose and growled. The imp laughed. "How funny. You're trying to threaten me, aren't you?" I barked loudly. "Now, now, that's no way to treat someone who came to rescue you." I rose an eyebrow. "Yeap, you heard me, rescue you." She floated forward and pushed against the bars of the cell. When she did, her body split apart into small bits of magic which then came together on the other side of the bar. "I have need of you, Hylian, so I'll let you out of here, but only if you do as I say."

I stopped growling and sat. What other choice did I have? I couldn't get out myself. "Amazing, you Hylians are so loyal when you're promised something good will come out of your loyalty, but I suppose you're not even that anymore, are you?" I growled and snapped at her. "Hey, did you want my help or not?" I sighed and went back to sitting. "Better." She put her hands together and energy appeared between her palms. I quickly pulled my head back, worried she was going to do something terrible to me, but she simply shot the energy forward at the chains on my leg which snapped them apart.

I quickly stood to my feet and rose my paw. I moved it around a bit and smiled the best a wolf can smile. I was free at last, or at least, free from the chains. "Well, that's it." The imp turned around and floated to the gate. Once again she split apart and re-assembled once she made it through the gate. "Now, I can't let you out of the cell, so you'll have to find your own way out. If you do that, I'll tell you where we are."

I growled. This was helping me? All she had done was break the chain! Whatever… I quickly started searching around, my eyes looking for anything they could to get me out of this place. Suddenly, I noticed something, it was a strange scent. I sniffed the air, then sniffed the ground. I turned and sniffed the ground near the gate and I soon noticed what it was. As a human, I couldn't tell, but as a wolf, I could smell the scent of someone who had dug under the gate to get out lingering there.

Quickly, I buried my paws into the dirt and dug into the hole under the gate. I dug through until I was out, then shook the dirt off of my body. I then looked around, noticing the imp had vanished while my face was buried in the dirt. "Stupid imp…" I spoke and turned. "Well, who needs her help?"

Suddenly, I felt something drop onto my back and I began to flail around fiercely. "Whoa, whoa, it's ok," I heard a familiar voice speak. "Relax you stupid Hylian!" I relaxed on command, those words had made me realize it was the imp that had jumped onto my back. I then sat myself down, then heard a loud WHUMP behind me. I turned to find the imp hadn't been holding on, and me sitting had caused enough of a slant to make her fall off.

"Sorry?" I asked, but the imp growled.

"Stupid Hylian!" The imp stood to her feet, then floated above me. "To get out of here, you'll have to go that way." She pointed forward towards a small hole in the wall. "That'll take us out of here."

"Where are we? And who are you?" I barked.

The imp tilted her head and stared at me. "I don't speak wolf, you stupid Hylian." I growled. "So, I wonder where we are?" she spoke sarcastically. "Can you figure it out?" I growled again and she giggled. "My name is Midna by the way."

Midna…well, at least I had a name for her now. I turned and I felt her drop back down onto my back. This annoyed me a bit, but I wasn't in a spot to complain. I then made my way over to the hole and crouched down. It was just big enough for me to crawl through. I extended my front legs forward and began to pull myself through the hole and I felt Midna vanish from my back a moment after my head got into the hole. I continued to pull myself through until I had made it to the other side.

Once through, I felt Midna fall onto my back once more. I growled, but then turned to look around. It appeared as if I was in some form of sewer now. "Great…now where do I go?"

"Well, now where are you going to go?" Midna asked, and I growled. She giggled and looked down at me. "Well, there's only one path to take, and that's to the right, so I guess you can start with that, huh?" I growled again, but she was right. I turned and began to make my way deeper into the sewer when I noticed a strange glowing orb in front of me. "Oh my, look at that."

"What the hell is that?"

"I'll bet you could see what it was if you focused your senses on it." I growled then stared at it. I hadn't gotten used to these new senses. I could hear and smell better then I could before. Even the ground felt completely different as a wolf then it did as a human. I sniffed the air a moment, noticing a strange scent was coming from the orb. As I approached it, I heard a voice coming from it.

"I…I should be safe here, right?" the voice asked. "There's no monsters here…I should be fine." I took a step and knocked a rock forward and across the ground. "What was that?" the orb seemed to move around, as if it was looking all around it.

"Oh my, it seems like it can't even see you're there," Midna spoke and laughed. "This is a spirit. It's a being of the other world."

"Other world?" I asked.

"Oy, again, I can't understand a word you say you stupid Hylian. I don't speak wolf, got it?" I growled. "Anyway, have you figured out where we are yet? No? Well, there's some clues at the end of the sewer."

I growled again, then turned. I noticed the sewer split here. I could see the left path led to a dead end, while the right path continued on. Naturally, I took the right path and followed it. "What are these black things?" I heard a voice shout. I quickly rushed forward to find a spirit surrounded by small black creatures with three tentacles coming out of their body. I growled and readied my claws and teeth.

"Oy, you're going to fight these things?" Midna asked. "You don't even know how to fight as a wolf."

"I'll learn!" I barked and jumped forward. I came down and bit into one of the monsters. It roared and I quickly flung the beast away. The taste of blood was now in my mouth, yet it seemed somewhat appealing. It must have been because I was a wolf. I roared and slashed another one of the monsters with my claws and it tumbled back, dead and bleeding. I turned to the last and it jumped at me. I could now see its head was nothing but a large mouth with fangs.

I roared and jumped back, rushed forward and dug my teeth into the beast. It squealed and I tossed it aside. "What…what happened? They just…died by themselves?" the spirit spoke and I growled. He couldn't see me at all?

Midna laughed. "See? They don't know you exist at all," she spoke. "Only the monsters here can see you."

"What the hell are these spirit things, Midna?" I roared at her.

"Shut up, you stupid Hylian! How many times do I have to tell you, I don't understand a thing you're saying!"

I growled. It was no use, I couldn't talk to Midna in this form. I turned and roared as I rushed forward. I wanted to get out of this sewer, and now. I continued to run as I made my way through the dark of the sewer. Over and over I fought the small monsters that lied here, but where was here? My answer came when I finally found an exit into a tower, where I then leaped to a window and stepped out. My eyes went wide as I looked around. The land around me was bathed in the light of twilight in all directions, but this wasn't an ordinary twilight at all. "What's going on here?" I asked.

"Oh, so we made it outside," Midna spoke and stretched. "Now do you know where we are?"

I looked around at my surroundings, noticing I was quite high up at the moment. The tower window was near the top of one of many towers I now noticed around me. "Is this…a castle?" I asked as I continued to examine the area around me. "This has to be a castle…which means…Hyrule Castle?"

Midna yawned. "Well, whether you know or not, we should get going. There's someone I want you to meet. She's over there, in that tower." Midna pointed across the rooftops of the castle to a tower on the exact opposite side of where I was. "You can make it there from here, can't you?"

I growled, but I had no real choice. If this was Hyrule Castle, then something was terribly wrong, and as I had never been out of Ordon, I would have to do whatever she wanted. Not to mention that there was no real proof that if I got back that I would be turned into a human again. "To that tower, then, huh?" I asked and sighed. "Guess I don't have much choice."

Quickly, I jumped from the window and down onto the top of the castle wall below. I made my way across the wall, examining my surroundings as I did so. Wherever I was, it was huge and unlike anything I had ever seen. I looked down, noticing that the wall was quite tall, most likely tall enough that four people could stand on each other's shoulders and still not reach the top. This was definitely a castle, and I was pretty sure now that it was definitely Hyrule Castle as it was the only castle I knew of.

Carefully, I made my way across the castle wall, examining my surroundings as I did. I noticed that the wall I was walking upon seemed to be heavily damaged, as if something had laid siege to the castle. After a moment, I rushed forward, running along the wall until I got near to the tower, but the tower was not connected to the wall. I looked around, hoping to find some way across, but I couldn't see one.

"Oy, do I have to do everything for you, you stupid Hylian?" Midna asked and grumbled. "Look over here." Midna hopped off my back and flew forward. She stopped when she reached a small wooden tower that had been built up in the middle of the courtyard. "Jump here."

I tracked the area with my eyes, and strangely, I was able to tell things about the distance I couldn't before. I could tell exactly how far away it was, but not only that, but my legs felt like they were readying themselves. I found myself judging the distance multiple times, each time my legs grew sturdier and I became more certain I would make it. Then, without thinking, I jumped, and much to my surprise, I landed perfectly upon the tower.

Midna then flew off again, stopping above a long pole that stuck up from the middle of the courtyard. My instincts seemed to instantly make the connection, and without a thought, my feet pushed off, and I jumped to the pole. By the time my feet landed, Midna had moved to another tower, and my feet pushed off once again, making the jump to the tower. Finally, Midna moved to a window in the tower she wanted me to go to, and I jumped again, landing perfectly in the window.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Midna asked, smiling. I growled, but it was true. It wasn't hard, I just needed to stop thinking with a human brain and start trusting in my wolf instincts. I was quickly learning that I would not be able to do anything the way I would have before as a human. I just hoped that this wouldn't be permanent. "Well, come along, there's someone I want you to meet." With that, Midna turned into the tower, and I followed behind, making my way down from the window and onto a set of stairs. I turned, noticing Midna slowly floating up the stairs, and I quickly rushed forward, following her closely.

It was at the top of the stairs that I was met with a set of double doors. One of them was open just a crack, and I pushed my nose into the crack and pushed the door open wider. I then stepped forward, noticing the room around me. It was a dark place with a single window that looked out into the twilight. The furniture in the room seemed as if it had been thrown in there carelessly, as if it had been quickly fashioned into some sort of cell.

It was then that my eyes caught upon the only person in the room other then Midna and I. The person was staring out the window, and had a cloak that covered their head and body. I growled as I slowly stepped forward, readying myself if I needed to attack, but that was when the person turned around and something caught my attention. I'm not sure what it was, but perhaps it was that I could see the bottom of the person's face, and could see they were human, or perhaps, when they turned, they unleashed a strange power to calm me down. Whatever the case, though, I felt myself relaxing in this person's presence.

"Midna?" the person asked, and by the voice, I could tell this person was female.

"So, you remembered, did you?" Midna asked with a grin on her face.

The cloaked woman then turned to me. "This is the one for whom you were searching, then?"

"A little different then what I had in mind but…meh…this one will do."

The woman bent down and got close to me and I stepped back a little. Her gaze seemed to fall upon the chain upon my leg. "So, you were imprisoned, huh? I'm sorry."

"And because of that, she has no clue where she is, or what has happened here," Midna spoke then twirled and hopped onto my back. "Such a sad creature." I growled. "Why don't you explain to her exactly what has happened here…what you have done…Twilight Princess!" Midna cackled and my eyes went wide. Twilight Princess? Then…where was I? Was this not Hyrule Castle? If it was, then…was this…the Princess of Hyrule?

The woman put her hand on her chest and sighed. "Please listen carefully," she spoke. "This is Hyrule, the land where the power of the Gods was said to sleep." I knew it! I was in Hyrule! "But Hyrule has been covered in black clouds of twilight by the king who rules the shadows. It has been turned into an area of shadows."

* * *

"Stand your guard!" a guard shouted as he readied his polearm. "We may not survive today, but no matter what, we must protect the Princess and all of Hyrule!" The throne room of the castle was filled with guards, all armed with some form of polearm. At the end, standing by the throne, stood a woman dressed in a white dress that had a somewhat low cut purple top to it. Her shoulders had golden plates of armor upon them, and they were fastened on by a golden phoenix that sat at the top of her shirt, right at the cut. White gloves covered her hands and ended above her elbows. A golden crown then sat upon her head and her eyes were a beautiful shade of sapphire. In her hand was a long rapier, the hilt being fashioned of gold, while the blade was thin but sharp.

"They're coming!" a guard shouted and the guards in the room readied their weapons. Suddenly, a black cloud of fog covered the throne room, and the guards became nervous as they could not see. They began to swing their weapons wildly in the darkness, hoping to hit something, but to no avail. There was the sound of the cracking of necks and skulls as the soldier fell, one by one.

Then, the fog was gone, as if blown away by an incredible force. Dark creatures stood above the dead corpses of the guards, each looking to have a shield for a head and tentacles that came from their bodies in weird directions. Then, he came, a man dressed in a dark robe. The sleeves to his robe ended long below his hands, and a silver chest piece covered the top of his chest and his shoulders. A large ruby sat in the center of the chest piece, while his head was covered in a triangular helmet with two lizard-like eyes and a snake-like tongue that rolled out of it.

"Fair Princess of Hyrule," the man spoke in a high pitched voice. "It is time for you to decide. Surrender or die. For all of the land of Hyrule, life or death?" The man rose one of his hands, as if ready to signal his minions to kill the remaining soldiers. "You choose." The Princess bit her lip and gripped her sword tighter. A moment later, and her hand opened and the sword dropped to the ground. The man gave a chuckle. "Good."

* * *

"With the black clouds of twilight covering Hyrule, the people of the land, bereft of light, became as spirits," the woman before me spoke. "And even now, the people are unaware that they have become spirits." She turned away and stood to her feet. "They have come to lead an existence where they constantly are in fear of the shadow creatures." She then grabbed the hood of her cloak and pulled it down, revealing her long brown hair. My eyes went wide as I realized who this was. "And I am this country's ruler, the Princess Zelda." She turned to me, and I saw the crown that still sat upon her head.

At once, I bowed my head. I felt ashamed that I didn't realize this was her before, and that this whole time, I had kept my head up. I was taught to keep your head bowed in the face of royalty, and now that I knew who this was, I felt I needed to do such. "No need to make such a sad face," Midna immediately spoke up and I looked up, growling a little. She was being completely disrespectful. "I mean, for us it's easy living. After all, isn't it just that the world of light has become an area of shadows?"

"Midna, the Shadow Beasts…they've been looking for you," Zelda spoke and Midna's growled. "Why is this? What do they want with you?"

"Why indeed?" Midna giggled and I growled again. There was then the sound of a lock being opened, and Zelda and I both turned towards the door.

"You must go," Zelda spoke. "It's time for the guard to check on me."

"I'll take them on, then," I spoke and growled, readying myself for battle.

"No! You must leave! You can't stay here!" I piped up at that. She could understand me? Or was it that she could understand my motions? I relaxed and nodded, then turned back to the door and rushed forward. I saw light from the bottom of the stairs as the doorway opened, and I quickly jumped up and out of the window I had come in.

Upon the other side of the tower, I found a ledge to jump down onto, and I stared out into the twilight. "I have to save Zelda, and all of Hyrule if I can…but how…"

"So, then, Hylian, what are you going to do?" Midna asked as she floated around and in front of me. I growled. "You want to save Hyrule, don't you? But you can't!" I growled and snapped at Midna and she laughed. "You don't even know why you can't, do you? Have you already forgotten?" I continued to growl, but lower. I was curious what she had to say.

"Did you forget you have others to save first?" Suddenly, Midna whirled around and using her magic she transformed into Colin. She then did it again, transforming into Talo, then Malo, and finally into Ilia. I growled and Midna giggled. "Oh look, the Hylian has precious friends she wants to save, and apparently a soft spot for a certain one of them."

I snarled and snapped at her again. "How dare you take the form of Ilia and any of the children!" I shouted. "I'll tear you apart!"

Midna laughed. "Listen here, you stupid Hylian," she spoke as she got into my face, still wearing the Ilia disguise. "If you want to save your friends, then you'll have no choice but to listen to me. They're all here, in the twilight, and I'm the only one who can help you through all of this."

I snarled and jumped at her, my mouth open to attack, but I found myself frozen in place. I then felt my body being torn apart, bit by bit, then reassembled somewhere completely different. When I looked around, I noticed I had been teleported off to the Ordon spring. I then heard Midna giggle once more. "You're home, but it seems you're still in that wolf form. Too bad. Well, if you decide to go with my deal, just let me know. I'll tell you exactly what to do. Oh, and don't try to enter the twilight, without my help, you can never come back." Midna laughed and I roared loudly.

She was right, I was back, and still a wolf. Back home, in Ordon Village, I'd probably be treated as a monster if I went back, but otherwise, I only had one way to go, and that was into the twilight itself. I had no choice. I had to accept Midna's deal. If I didn't, I'd never be able to save Ilia, or any of the other children, and I'd probably never return to my true form. This was the breaking point, and you could say it was the start of my adventure. Unfortunately for me, I didn't realize just what I was about to get myself into.


	3. A Taste of Blood

**A/N: **I'd like to thank Lord Lycaon for continuing this story. I've been at a loss as of how to continue it now for a long time, and now it looks like we'll finally be able to see the story continued and hopefully reach its full potential. So, from this chapter on, the story will be written by him. He's asked that I keep the story on my account, though, and that he continue writing it for me. So, I hope you enjoy the rest of the story the same way I've been enjoying what he's sent me.

**Chapter 3: The Taste of Blood**

I hate bugs. I really do. Creepy little pests. But I'm kind of getting ahead of myself. I'll get to the bugs later. Anyway, when I agreed to Midna's terms, annoying as they were, she told me that she would need a sword and a shield. I didn't really understand how someone who barely reaches up to my thigh in my human form would be able to use either of those things, but I really couldn't argue. Not that she would've been able to understand my argument, but still. I figured that if I ever regained my human form, I would be able to use the sword and shield while searching for my friends.

I made my way back to Ordon Village, running down the path until I saw someone. It was difficult to discern who it was in the darkness, but I gave up on trying to recognize the "person" when I realized that they had horns and glowing orange eyes. I quietly crept closer to the obvious monster, trying to get a better look. I easily remembered the ragged outfit and dark green skin. This was one of those monsters that had kidnapped Ilia and the others. Talk about a coincidence. I had to wonder what they were still doing here… Oh, no. Did they attack the village? If so, I could only hope that there were survivors.

I stalked closer to the monster. My lupine nose twitched at the freak of nature's scent, like fish rotting out in the sun during summer. Not at all pleasant. I managed to get up behind the monster. It hadn't noticed me yet, and probably wouldn't until it was too late. I pounced on the unaware bastard, who panicked as I slammed into his back, my fangs sinking into the flesh of his shoulder.

I felt the monster's blood spill into my mouth. I can't quite explain what that sensation was like, but… it felt… _good_. A part of me actually _liked_ the taste of blood. I knew it was wrong to feel that way. I wanted to hate it. It was almost as if I were split in two: one half loved the taste of violence, and the other half wanted to avoid it. What the hell was happening to me? Was it the fact that I was a wolf? Could my newfound lupine instincts have been growing stronger the longer I stayed in my bestial form?

The monster's shouts and cries of pain slowly became agonizing whimpers. Soon, the creature stopped making any sound at all. I released my jaws from the monster's still bleeding shoulder. I could feel its flesh in my mouth. I couldn't stop myself from swallowing the meat. I shuddered from both pleasure and disgust.

"Wow," Midna's voice whispered from my shadow. "I guess you Hylians can be pretty vicious when you want to be." I growled in response. That only made the untouchable imp giggle in amusement. "I wonder if eating your enemies is basic training here in the world of light. My, you people certainly are barbaric, aren't you?"

"Come out of my shadow," I said in a voice that was deeper than my real one, "and I'll show you barbaric!" I still knew that she couldn't understand me, at least according to her, but my frustration got to me. And that was completely unlike me. I've never really been angry before, mostly thanks to my level of patience. It must've been another effect of being a wolf. That thought shook me. If this is what I was like after just two hours, what would I become after a whole day? Or even a week? I needed to hurry and become human again before I was wolf in both body _and_ mind.

I hurried down the path that led to my home, where two more of those monsters skulked in the darkness of night, both of them armed with war clubs. I acted with speed that I didn't know I had. I leapt at the closest monster and dug my teeth into its throat and tore off the flesh, turning the monster's neck into a red geyser. I spat out the monster meat in my mouth and charged at the second opponent, who attempted to slug me with its club. I leapt to the side and pounced on him, and raked my claws over his chest. The monster dropped his weapon and clutched his wound with both hands. That was his last mistake, I bet he realized, as I jumped on him again and savaged his face with my fangs.

I climbed off the bloody corpse and sauntered away towards the village, a part of me hating myself for the horrible ways that I killed those monsters, and another part pleased with the result. Once again, that unnatural mix of pleasure and disgust hit me.

As I headed down to the village, a high-pitched voice called out, "Wait!" I instinctively turned, growling in response to the voice. I looked around, but couldn't see anyone there. I shook my head. My mind must've been playing tricks on me. I was about to turn and head away again when the voice spoke out again. "Thanks for getting rid of those monsters. Though I would've preferred to have seen less blood."

"Who's there?" I demanded in return.

"Up here!" I looked in direction that the voice was coming from, which happened to be at the doorstep of my house. At first, I saw nothing. I headed in a little closer to my home and squinted my eyes a little. Finally, I could make out a small squirrel sitting at the top of the ladder that led to my house.

"What are you doing up there?" I asked angrily. Nobody that I don't know should be allowed near my home. Later, I would wonder why I thought that way. It wasn't like me to be so inhospitable.

"I was hiding from the monsters," the squirrel replied a little fearfully. Probably because I was a wolf, and wolves were known to eat small animals, like, say, squirrels for example. "They came and attacked the village. They took the children away for some reason. I don't really know why."

The human side of me suddenly felt despair. My home village really had been attacked by those monsters. The only person in Ordon who could really fight was Rusl. That frightened me. What if the other villagers were hurt, or worse? I shook my head. I couldn't think like that. I turned and headed away to the village.

"Bye!" the squirrel called out as I left. "I hope we get to talk again soon!" I snorted at that. I didn't really feel like talking to a squirrel again anytime soon.

-o-

Ordon Village at night is usually one of the most peaceful sights one could ever lay eyes on. The clear night sky revealed the countless stars twinkling in the distant heavens. The nighttime quiet settled into one's mind the calm and serenity of the village. But now… it just made me even angrier at the monsters that kidnapped Ilia and Colin and the other children.

Doors had been kicked in, windows shattered, crops scattered and smashed everywhere. I could smell the scent of those monsters, too. It was everywhere. I nearly gagged at it. I really wished I could cover my nose at this point.

"Hey, Hylian," said Midna's voice. I simply tried to ignore her and move on, but she hopped out of my shadow in a dark, ghostlike form. "Hey! You're supposed to listen to me!" I rolled my eyes, but sat down anyway. I may not have liked it much, but I'm a woman of my word, so I couldn't just turn and walk away. "Good girl. Now listen; you know this dump of a village better than I do, so I'm just going to leave it up to you to find that sword and shield for me, all right?" I nodded, glaring at her with apparently obvious frustration. She just laughed and said, "Good dog! Now get moving. We don't want to waste this beautiful night doing nothing, do we?" That said, she vanished into my shadow.

I really wanted to wring that imp's neck. I cursed my lack of thumbs. And the fact that I was unable to even touch her as long she stayed connected to my shadow. I sighed and marched on. _Maybe I'll get that shield first,_ I thought. _Jaggle mentioned that he was making one before all this insanity started._

I made up my mind and went down the path that led to Jaggle's house, the only house in the village that held a two-fold purpose. Obviously, the first was housing. It also had a large waterwheel over the small river that ran by it. I honestly have no idea what the wheel's purpose was. Jaggle's wife Pergie tried explaining it to me once, but I didn't really pay any attention. It was years ago. At that time, the only things I really cared about were training to be a better swordswoman and Ilia. Anyway, as I approached the bridge that crossed the river, I heard a voice.

"Oh, Beth, where are you?" said a familiar male voice. I looked up to see Beth's father Hanch standing atop a large rock where hawk grass was known to grow. "Please forgive your poor excuse for a father! I was unable to protect you like a good father should!" That was rather depressing, but it only helped to solidify my determination to find Ilia and the children. At least, with my human mind it did. My wolf mind couldn't care less.

I continued down the path and crossed the short bridge over to Jaggle's yard, where I saw him speaking with Mayor Bo. Figuring that my current form might cause them a little bit of grief, I ducked into some tall grass that happened to be nearby.

"Oh, about that shield!" I heard Jaggle shout.

"Quiet down!" Bo hissed out as quietly as he could. "We don't know if those monsters are still around, so don't yell." After that, they began whispering to each other, much to my annoyance. I slowly and silently crept a little closer, inching along carefully. Eventually, their conversation became audible to my new wolf ears.

"I just finished that shield," Jaggle said quietly. "I have it up in the loft in my house."

"All right," Bo replied. "You go get it. Rusl got hurt pretty bad, so he can't go looking for the children." That made my heart sink. Rusl, the man that I saw as my father, got hurt? At that point, I really wanted to get even with those monsters. Bo continued speaking, saying, "I'll go look for them myself."

"But, Mayor!" Jaggle said, clearly trying to dissuade the overweight head of my home village. "Rusl had a sword! And he still got hurt! Going after those monsters with just a shield would be suicide!"

"I won't go unarmed," Bo reassured him. I can't lie. I took a breath of relief myself. "There's still that package that was supposed to be delivered to Hyrule Castle. I know the basics of how to use a sword, so I'm sure I can use that."

Jaggle nodded almost unnoticeably. "All right. You wait here. I'll go get the shield." And that's when I decided to come out of my hiding place. Jaggle screamed in surprise. Amazing how a grown man can sound like a little girl sometimes. "Monster!"

Bo turned and gasped at the sight of me. Part of me wanted to crack a joke about how my hair looked, but I somehow doubted that they could speak wolf. "Run!" Bo shouted as he and Jaggle did just that.

As they fled, Midna hopped out of my shadow again. "Sheesh, talk about rude," she said. I snorted at that. Clearly, she needed a mirror. "Anyway, sounds like we just got some pretty useful information. Now we know that there's a shield in that house." If I could face-palm at that moment, I would have. I already knew that there was a shield in Jaggle's house. "But how are we going to get inside?" She looked around until she seemed to spot something. "Up there! There's an open window. Ugh, this place is full of idiots, isn't it?"

"I'm _from_ this village, thank you," I muttered.

Midna continued to search the area until she finally stopped. I followed her gaze to the waterwheel. Even in the darkness of her shadow form, I could tell that she was grinning. "Now, how will we get in there?" She giggled mischievously and once again sank into my shadow.

I studied the waterwheel carefully, looking for a way up. I looked over at the tall rock that Hanch was standing on. An idea slowly came to mind. If I could get up there, I might be able to leap onto the wheel, and from there, I'd be able to hop up to the roof of the house and get in to get that shield. I headed back across the bridge. When I crossed the bridge, however, Hanch shouted at me.

"MONSTER!" he screamed. I faced him, growling in surprise and unintentionally baring my fangs at him. "So, you've come back, have you? For more victims no doubt. Well I won't have it!" He held something up to his mouth. I quickly recognized it as a piece of hawk grass, a plant that strangely resembles a hawk in flight and can be used to call a… well, a hawk. Isn't that a shock? … And I just rhymed. Sorry. Anyway, moving on.

To make a long story short, Hanch called in a hawk and ordered it to attack me. After dodging the hawk's dive bombs, I ducked behind a building that happened to be Hanch's house, where his wife Sera also sold things like fresh goat milk and bee larva.

"Hey," a voice called to me. I jumped and growled at the source. A small cat jumped back in surprise and hissed at me. I quickly recognized the cat as Sera's cat, named Patchy. The little bastard loved giving me trouble. I had to fight the animalistic urge to maul the smaller creature. "Geez, you're jumpy," Patchy said when he calmed down.

"What do you want?" I demanded more than asked. He was really starting to smell rather tasty.

"I just wanted to apologize for that guy's behavior," the cat replied, motioning over at Hanch. "He's… my master's husband. He might act tough right now, but he's really a big coward. If you can get in behind him, you could easily scare him off."

"Thanks for the tip," I muttered. I already knew that Hanch wasn't the bravest person in the world. Patchy was right, though. If could somehow sneak behind him, I could scare him away, and I wouldn't have to worry about him again for a long time. The only question was, how could I get up to the cliff that he was standing on? I wouldn't be able to climb up the mossy side of the rock without properly aligned fingers. Not exactly the easiest thing in the world.

Suddenly, I could hear Midna's distorted giggling. "Hey, Hylian," she said, "I think I just found a way to get into that waterwheel house!" She then dashed up to the roof of Sera's shop. "Just jump up here! You remember how this works, right?"

I didn't bother answering. I simply jumped toward the shadow imp, feeling the strange tug from before as I did so, and landed on the tiled roof with a quiet _thud_. Midna swooped back into my shadow again as I crept across the building, silently approaching Hanch's perch. I had to jump across a short gap between the shop and a rock that stood between Hanch and his wife's shop. He was still looking around on the ground, probably searching for me. I leaped over to his place and barked. He immediately froze, then slowly turned, trembling hilariously. He screamed when he saw me and quickly dove into the small lake that the village's river poured into.

"Ha!" I heard Midna laugh somewhat cruelly as she hovered out of her hiding place and took a lounging posture. "Did you see the look on his face? Priceless!" I rolled my eyes as she continued giggling. When she regained her cool, she said, "Don't forget. Shield. Now fetch." I growled at the joke, not appreciating her sick humor. She hovered over to the waterwheel and floated over an unmoving outer spot that wouldn't drop me into the river. I jumped and landed on the wheel, and she hovered up to the roof, letting me follow. As the imp dropped back into my shadow, I headed into the house through the open window.

I jumped in and landed on a bed. It must've been Malo and Talo's bunk bed, because there were toys all over the mattress. I looked down at the lower area of the house, and saw that no one was home. Pergie was probably with Sera, both worrying their hearts out about the children's disappearance. I jumped down and landed on the dining table, where I took the time to look around for my prize.

Midna once again hopped out of my shadow, giggling, and said, "Found it!" She pointed up to what must've been the loft that Jaggle had mentioned. I could see the wooden shield resting on the wall, waiting for someone to take it down. It appeared to have the symbol of Ordona – set of Ordon goat horns – emblazoned on it. Midna and I performed another one of those jumps, and I landed carefully on the floor of the loft. I cocked my head at the shield. How was I supposed to get it down?

"Some advice?" Midna asked. I wanted to say "no," but even if she could understand me, I doubt she would listen. I could just make out a mischievous grin on her shadowy face. "Use your head!" I rolled my eyes. Some help she was.

_Guess I've got no choice,_ I thought as I braced myself for what I was about to attempt. I charged at the wall, tackling it full-force with my head. When the stars cleared from my vision, I saw that the shield was only _partly_ free from its holds. I groaned (well, more like whined, really) and head butted the wall again, causing the shield to fall to the floor with good-sounding clatter. I walked over to the wooden shield and picked it up with my teeth. It wasn't like I had hands to do that.

Midna hopped out of my shadow. "Good girl!" she said, clearly trying to patronize me. "Now to get that sword! I'll use my magic to hold the shield onto your back for you. You just focus on our little treasure hunt, got it?" She didn't let me answer, sinking into my shadow before I had a chance to. I shook my head in annoyance and headed for another open window. I quickly leaped out of it, and splashed into the small lake.

I briefly heard voices coming from far off to my left. I could just make out Rusl's voice saying something about searching for the missing children. But hadn't he been injured? I rolled my eyes at myself as I doggy paddled to shore. Of course he was going to look for them. Rusl wasn't just a great swordsman; he was also notoriously stubborn; one he set his mind on something, not even his beloved wife could sway him otherwise.

I shook my fur as dry as I could get it. It felt strange drying off in that manner, but it was simple enough to do. Once I was no longer wet – though I still felt water on my skin under my fur – I headed over to Rusl's house. I figured that there was a sword there that I could get. Then, Midna would have to hold up her end of the bargain and get me back past that wall of twilight. As I made my way down the path, I saw Rusl limping down in my direction. I reacted too late, and he spotted me.

"Aha!" he shouted as he drew his sword from his back. "Come here, monster! I'll teach you a lesson or two!" He stood with his sword at the ready, and continued taunting me. Part of me wanted to teach _him_ a lesson: one should not anger a wolf. I managed to resist that urge and made my way for a shadowed area. I could hear Rusl trying to chase me, but his limp slowed him greatly. I managed to get a hiding spot within a bush and waited. Rusl finally got close to my position, but after several tense moments, he cursed and left.

I let out a relieved sigh as I stepped out of the bush. I then quickly made my way to Rusl's house. I saw Uli sitting just outside the door, an understandably worried look on her face. I wanted to go over and comfort her, but put the idea aside. How would she react if she saw me as I was at that time? I instead snuck around the house, sticking to the shadows. I wondered how I would be able to get in. The front door was an obvious no-no, so that option was out the window. I looked around impatiently, until my eyes landed on a Cucco that just happened to be walking around. I fought against the bestial desire to attack and devour the fowl and walked over to it.

"Excuse me?" I called, trying my best to sound somewhat polite with my new wolf voice. The Cucco looked at me. Obvious fear immediately flashed in his eyes. "Don't be afraid. I just need to ask you something."

"O-of course," the Cucco replied nervously. "Wh-what do you need?"

"Do you know a way into this house?" I asked, motioning my head to Rusl, Uli, and Colin's home. "Besides the front door, I mean."

"Um… well…" The Cucco hesitated to answer. "Er… there's a patch of ground that you might be able to dig through. It's right next to the family's kindling."

"Thank you," I said rather gruffly. The Cucco let out a relieved breath and dashed away. I went on a brief search for the patch, and, true to the Cucco's word, it was right next to the kindling. I began to claw my way through, digging as fast as I could. Soon, I managed to get through, breaking through the exposed ground within the house. When I was finally back on all fours, I shook the dirt off and looked around.

The house was pretty messy, but that was actually normal for it. Uli was surprisingly lax when it came to cleaning, so she didn't really mind if her husband and son messed up the place a little. You wouldn't believe the number of times that I had to help to clean the place up.

My eyes eventually landed on a brown leather scabbard with metal bracings and a strap that allowed it to be worn on one's back. There was a sword sheathed into it. The guard was made of gray steel, with brown wraps on the grip. The pommel of the weapon was a simple, round design that bore the mark of Ordona, just like the face of the shield that Jaggle had crafted. I picked it up in my teeth and slid it under the shield as best I could. Midna promptly jumped from my shadow, giggling excitedly.

"Good dog!" she said almost giddily, like a kid in a confectioner's shop. "This completes our little collection. Now, let's get back to the twilight! Go back to where you first transformed, and we'll go from there." Without waiting for me to react, she jumped back into my shadow. Ignoring her, I dug back out of the house and made my back to Faron Woods.

On my way to the "curtain of twilight," as Midna had called it, questions swirled around in my mind. For example, if all those soldiers had turned into spirits, then why didn't I? Why didn't Princess Zelda? And why was I the only one who turned into a wolf? And why a wolf in the first place? Why couldn't it have been something cuter? Like a rabbit or something?

_Don't you like it?_ a voice asked from seemingly nowhere. _Doesn't it feel good? When you tasted that monster's flesh, wasn't it just delectable?_ I shook my head, trying to get rid of the voice. _Why fight it? You know you want to this. Deep down, you crave the wild freedom of a beast. Just embrace it. Forget everything else and live this way forever._

"NO!" I shouted, stopping dead in my tracks. I caught myself. Had I just been arguing with myself? "Great," I muttered. "Now I'm going insane." I padded down the path and noticed that I had already passed my house. I was headed down the path that led past the Ordona Spring and heading for the bridge that crossed the gorge and took visitors to the Faron Province.

As I walked down the path, another voice called out to me, saying, _"Wait…"_ My first instinct was to ignore the voice and bolt off toward the woods, but something about this new voice was… comforting. It was like the tone that a mother would use to comfort her crying child, something Uli would do for me when I when I was little. I turned and faced the direction the voice had come from. It had come from the spring. _"Come… to my spring…"_ I looked over at the bridge, then back to the spring. Soon, I made my decision and headed into the spring.

I padded through the water, feeling strangely at ease. That calm was quickly ruined when several slabs of black stone dropped down from the sky and embedded themselves in the ground. _"Beware…"_ the voice warned. _"A shadow being… it approaches…"_

As if on cue, another black form fell out of the sky, landing in the water with a loud _splash!_ and _thud!_ The form rose to its feet, revealing itself to be the same type of creature that had dragged me into the twilight in the first place. Its shield-like face shook, and the innumerable tendrils sticking out of its neck swished in every possible direction. Its muscular frame rippled as it stomped toward me, walking like a gorilla. I took an instinctive step back, baring my fangs and growling as menacingly as possible.

The monster threw an attack, swinging its right arm onto the ground, aiming to crush my skull. I quickly jumped to the side, dodging the blow, then leaped at the beast, landing on its chest. I proceeded to savagely maim the creature's throat, blood seeping out of the wound. The monster soon recovered and managed to pry me off. It tossed me about ten feet away, but I was able to land on my feet and dash straight on, my claws and fangs ready to rend the beast's flesh. To hell with subtlety, I figured. My only goal was to kill this monster! I had already tasted its blood, and I was craving more of the intoxicating liquid.

I managed to pounce onto the monster again and tear its throat out bit by bit. I relished in the carnage. The monster's blood spilled down my throat and into my gullet. It was like I had achieved nirvana, or whatever the easterners call it. I kept biting long after the creature was dead, right until its body exploded into little black squares that shot up into the sky, forming a bizarre black thing with turquoise markings on it, similar to Midna's.

I whined for more bloodshed. I craved it. I _needed_ it. That monster's blood had been borderline orgasmic on my tongue. When would I get more?

A light as bright as the sun suddenly began to glow. The rocks of the spring were now covered with luminous symbols and patterns. The light calmed my mind, allowing my human half to return to dominance. I wanted to vomit as I remembered how I had mutilated that monster. The way I was thinking… it scared me. What was I becoming? Would I become as horrible as the monsters that took Ilia and the others?

The gentle sound of a droplet splashing into water quelled the typhoon that was my mind. To think that such a simple sound could calm someone would be impossible to believe if you never experienced it yourself. I found more solace in that one drip than most people ever feel in their entire lives. The spring's water seemed to glow as well as the rocks. It soon became so bright that I was unable to tell whether it was still night or if the sun had risen. I could hear the sound of a goat bleating, but it was mixed in with a songlike voice that was positively divine.

A large orb of light floated gently above the water, a ring of gold soon forming around it. That ring soon revealed itself to be connected to the head of goat, whose body formed quickly. I was now standing before a huge, goat-like creature with a body that looked to be made of pure gold. _"O, brave youth,"_ the goat said in that kind, motherly voice that had spoken to me earlier. _"It is finally time. I am Ordona, the Light Spirit of this province of Hyrule."_

"The Light Spirit?" I inquired. The goat nodded, making me widen my eyes in surprise. "You can understand me?"

_"Gods and spirits know the languages of all creatures,"_ Ordona replied gently, her voice seeming to ring as she spoke. _"But that is not what is important at this time. The creature you just slayed was a Shadow Beast, a demon who shuns the light. It came here in an attempt to steal my light, and spread the twilight over this area. You have my gratitude."_

"But… I…" I hesitated. I couldn't help but think about _how_ I killed the monster.

_"The twilight has not only corrupted your form,"_ Ordona explained, as if she was reading my mind, _"but it will also try to corrupt you mind and soul. As long as you are in the presence of a Light Spirit, however, you shall be safe from the madness."_

I couldn't think of an argument against that. It did make some sense. But still… "Why was transformed at all? Why am I not a spirit like those guards back at the castle?"

_"You bear a power that was bestowed upon you and your ancestors by the goddesses themselves,"_ the Light Spirit said serenely. _"You and the others who bear this power cannot become spirits in the twilight. You specifically are transformed into what you see now."_ The spirit stopped, giving me time to let that sink in. _"Now, child, you must go and free my brethren."_

"What?" I asked. "You mean the other spirits are in danger?"

_"Their light has already been taken from them. You must aid them in any way you can. Go to the Faron Woods. The spirit there will be able to restore you to your human form."_ I nodded in understanding. _"But be warned, young one. Once you step into the twilight, not only will you be unable to return until you have cleansed those woods, you will also be subject to the corrupting darkness. Within the twilight, the madness will develop far faster than in the light."_

I nearly lost my balance at that moment. I already went mad with blood-lust fast enough. If the twilight really accelerated that terrifying process… I shook my head, trying to deny it. I couldn't think about that. Besides, the only way to return to my human form was to brave the shadows. I nodded, hoping that I looked determined. "I'll do my best," I said, trying to sound firm about it.

Ordona nodded. _"Then go, brave youth. All of Hyrule is counting on you."_ She then faded away, as did the light. The night sky returned as if Ordona had never appeared. I looked up at the stars, those twinkling little dots that floated in the blackness. It was strangely soothing. All those little spots that daintily and slowly moved through the heavens. Looking up at the stars was always a way for me to just relax and think about everything. Right then, I was trying to decide whether I was happy that I was going to be able to maybe explore the land of Hyrule, or terrified of what I might become if I could never return to my humanity. I could only decide that it was even tie between the two.

I soon turned and left the spring behind, crossing the bridge and approaching the great black wall that enshrouded Faron. Midna hopped out of my shadow, a vague smirk on her intangible face, and said, "Here we are! You ready to go into the twilight?" I closed my eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath. I was grateful that my mind was human again, but I had to wonder, for how long? Shoving that thought aside, I nodded, and Midna giggled mischievously. "Good girl! I'll take you in." She flew into the wall and phased through it, the wall looking like a pond that a pebble was just thrown into.

I braced myself, waiting for something to happen. The seconds ticked by, and I was easily losing my patience. "Midna?" I called, though she probably would've just heard me bark. Suddenly, a massive orange hand shot out of the wall and grabbed me. I let out a yelp of shock as the arm pulled me past the wall, and into the darkness.


	4. Tears of Light

**Chapter 4: Tears of Light**

Faron Woods usually had the strangest way of making me feel at ease. It was calm and serene, the only audible sounds being the songs of the birds in the trees, and the chittering of squirrels as they stockpiled on nuts and other small bits of food. But now, that peace was upset by the eerie black and orange of the twilight. It was more than a little unsettling.

I padded through the woods a little ways, Midna sitting on my back. I looked up at her, and saw a sight that probably should've made me laugh. She held the sword in her hand, holding it normally, but had the shield right on her face. I actually _really _wanted to laugh at her and tell her that she didn't know everything after all, but being an animal made that a tad difficult.

"These are the weapons you use in your world?" she asked. She swung the sword a few times, nearly lopping my head off in the process. She grunted in a very unladylike way. "You really think these things can slay the creatures of the twilight?" She then tossed the sword blade down into the ground and dropped the shield onto my face. "Well, I won't use them. But I'll tell you what…" She snapped her fingers, and the sword and shield became little black squares that faded from existence. "I'll hold onto them for you, wolfie. You know, for when you're human again.

"Now then," she continued, leaning in closer to my head. "Listen, now that you've proven yourself at least a little trustworthy, I think I can tell you a little something." She tugged on my ear teasingly, pulling my head back slightly. "I just need you to collect a few things for me. I can't really tell you all the details just yet, but it'll be easy. Trust me." Forgetting having a shield on her face. I wanted to laugh at that. I trusted this imp about as far as I could throw her. She suddenly perked up some, a mischievous smile on her face. "Do you hear that?"

I didn't know what she was talking about at first, but I tuned my ears. I soon heard what sounded like the pained cries of some hurt animal. Those cries sounded as though they were being repeated by an echo, which only made it sound worse.

"That's the lamentation of the Light Spirit of this area," Midna explained. She giggled darkly. "Sounds like it's in pain, huh?" She flipped over, lying on my back in a lounging position, lazily checking the little claws on her fingers as if they were nails. "You might want to hurry, or it might be too late. The longer you keep dawdling, the more the twilight spreads and engulfs your world." I looked over in the direction of those pained pleas for help. Midna sat up on my back and kicked my sides. "Well? What are you waiting for? Get moving!"

I seriously wanted to beat the little imp senseless, but I had to admit that she had a very valid point. I growled angrily for a moment, then went on down the path, making for the Faron Spring. As I headed down the road, however, more of those black stone slabs crashed into the ground and created a barrier, blocking my escape. Almost immediately, three Shadow Beasts fell out of the sky, all ready to tear me apart.

"Aw, come on!" Midna complained. "Penned again? Sheesh, these guys have no idea who they're dealing with." I glared at her for a second, trying to make sure that my eyes said, _What are you talking about?_ "Well, no need to take them down one at a time. You can handle all three at once! I'll just wait up over there." She pointed over at a corner of the barrier and teleported over there, leaving me to contend with the trio of Shadow Beasts.

"Annoying little freak," I muttered to myself as the monsters charged in toward me. I leaped away from one beast's attack, only to be attacked by another of them. I was just barely able to avoid getting hit, and was able to pounce on the second monster. I was just about to tear into its throat with my fangs when I froze, a horrible thought coming to mind; what if I ended up the way I did when I killed that first Shadow Beast, just before Ordona appeared and calmed me?

The hesitation very nearly cost me my life, as the third monster swatted me off of its ally, sending me skidding across the ground painfully. I stood somewhat shakily, glaring at the trio of monsters. I shook my head. I couldn't think about what-ifs now. I had to act, or these demons were going to kill me. I ran at them, pouncing on one and raking my claws across its neck, drawing blood. I tore into it with my fangs, tasting the monster's blood as I did so. I jumped off of the fallen creature before I could become savage again, landing on another one. My claws bore into its chest as I kicked off of it, landing a few feet away.

The first monster, who was uninjured, tried to crush me under its huge fist, but I managed to sidestep the attack and countered by jumping onto it. I tore out the monster's throat in one bite, and jumped off of the beast, spitting out its flesh as I landed. _Two down, one to go,_ I thought as my gaze fell upon the last Shadow Beast. But just then, the monster did something that I hadn't expected in the least; it unleashed a screaming roar that almost deafened me. I instinctively shut my eyes in response and tried in vain to cover my ears with my paws.

When the shriek ended, I opened my eyes to see something that was downright horrifying. The two monsters that I had "killed" picked themselves up off the ground, their wounds instantly closing. It was obviously bad news, but I couldn't look away. It was fascinating in a frightening way. The three monsters marched closer to me, their shield-like faces shaking as though they were excited. Snarling in frustration, I sprinted into them, leaping onto one of them and ripping at its neck. I felt the delightful tingle of blood on my tongue as the monster bled out. I jumped off of it, letting the beast fall forward onto its face.

I stopped there. The other two monsters looked ready to kill me, but if I fought back and killed one of them, the last one would probably just scream again and revive its fallen comrades. I was in a no-win situation. Suddenly, I felt a weight on my back. I looked and saw Midna giving a disapproving look. "Geez, what's taking so long?" she asked impatiently. "I guess you still need my help. You lazy little beast." I growled at her in response. "Look, just get those two Shadow Beasts close together, and I'll handle the rest, okay?"

I reluctantly nodded my agreement and ran toward the pair of demons. I heard Midna grunt, and I then saw a circle of darkness appear at my feet, rimmed by a stream of what looked like light red, almost pink, electricity. The three monsters were caught inside, clearly not knowing what was coming – not that I knew what was going to happen, but still. The Shadow Beasts were each caught in an aura of pinkish sparks. It was then that Midna released the dark circle. I have no idea how it happened, but when that circle vanished, I shot like an arrow through both of the beasts in rapid succession, and apparently killing them instantly. The monsters collapsed onto the ground, and shortly thereafter, they all exploded into those little black squares that shot up into the sky and created another one of those weird patterns like before.

Midna didn't comment on the thing in the sky, so it may not have been important. Not yet at least. Paying it no more mind, I headed down the path to the source of the Light Spirit's cries, only to find the Faron Spring halfway dried up. I padded through what little water there was. I was surprised to discover the lack of the soothing feeling that the water usually had in it. Normally, these springs were so pristine, just sitting in them is said to heal even the gravest of wounds, but this spring water felt as bland as water from anywhere else. Another effect of the twilight, I assumed.

I noticed a small cloud of light floating just above the water. It sounded as though the lamentations were coming from it, so I approached it and asked, "Are you the… Light Spirit?"

_"Yes…"_ a pained voice managed to rasp. _"I am… the spirit… of this spring…"_ It was just plain sad hearing it talk like that. The Light Spirits were supposed to be powerful entities, but this was downright pitiful. Not to mention infuriating. Did the Shadow Beasts simply not care that they were hurting someone? _"Please… gather my light… collect my scattered tears… and place them… in this vessel…"_

I could practically feel the poor creature work the last bit of its strength, creating something that looked somewhat like a grapevine made of gold and silver with sixteen clear bulbs, eight on either side. The strange thing looped around my neck like a necklace, and I heard a small _click._

_"In this darkness…"_ the Light Spirit said weakly, _"the creatures that carry my Tears of Light… have taken on the form… of insects…"_ I shivered when he said "insects." As I stated before, I do _not_ like bugs. _"In the twilight… these Shadow Insects are… invisible… just as those… who dwell in the light… good luck, blue-eyed beast…"_

"Blue-eyed beast, eh?" Midna laughed. "Gee, it sounds like you've got yourself a new nickname!" I growled at her, but let it go. I had some bugs to squash.

I headed down the path that led through to the forest where Talo was taken when he and that monkey were captured by those monsters. I stopped when I saw something sparking and move into the short tunnel ahead of me. Curious, I tried the same trick that I did back at Hyrule Castle in order to see the spirits there. What I saw made me gasp; before me was a huge bug-like creature that was easily as big as the shield that I had taken from Jaggle's house. It was silvery, and looked sort of like a stinkbug.

"What are you waiting for?" Midna complained. "Kill it and take its Tear of Light already! I'm not getting any younger, you stupid Hylian!" I groaned in response, but pounced at the bug, which quickly scurried out of my reach. I pounced at it again, but evaded me again. This went on for several annoyingly long minutes, until I eventually caught the little pest and stomped my paw through its back, killing it almost instantly. I raised my paw out of its innards and promptly gagged. The thing smelled and looked **_HORRIBLE_**.

The insect's body exploded then, exposing a blue sphere of light that floated gently toward the ground. I didn't fail to notice how Midna seemed to recoil slightly at the sphere's glow. I leaned into it, sniffing it curiously. The Light Spirit said that I should store the Tears of Light into the vessel around my neck, but I had no idea how to go about doing that. I touched the orb, and jumped back as it burst into three little streams of light that went directly into one of the vessel's bulbs, which began to glow with the same blue light as the Tear.

"Well," Midna muttered somewhat angrily, "that stupid spirit could've at least warned us about how bright those things are." I raised an eyebrow at her. It hadn't been that bright at all. I guess her being a shadow-dweller made her more sensitive to light. I headed off to continue my search for those bugs… I did not enjoy even a single moment of it.

-o-

I had collected a number of those Tears of Light. I got four from the house of a guy who lives in the woods and sells lanterns and oil to travelers. I got two more at the entrance to the dark tunnel that led deeper into the forest (the gate there was locked apparently, so I was forced to dig under it to get through), and three more at the forest's edge. Getting through the woods proved troublesome, because there was apparently some kind of poisonous fog filling the whole place. Fortunately, I was able to use that directed jump thing that Midna used for me. I collected two more Tears inside a large, hollowed-out tree on my way to the other side of the woods, where I got my paws on two more.

I noticed that my bestial side hadn't shown itself since I collected that first Tear. Maybe the Tears of Light quelled that part of me, I thought, just like how being in the presence of a full-strength Light Spirit calmed me. It was only a theory though. And it was one that I wasn't really eager to test out.

I headed further into the woods, where I saw a trio of Shadow Beasts skulking about in a clearing. I sighed in frustration. I really didn't have time for this. I charged in, and was – get ready for a shocker – immediately penned in by those black slabs. One of the Shadow Beasts seemed to want to keep its distance, so decided to go after that one first. I sprinted past the other two beasts, who barely had time to react to my presence before I leaped and landed on the far monster's back. I quickly began clawing and biting at its neck in different places, easily killing it, then leaped off of it and made my way for those other two demons.

Midna created another ring of dark energy, locking onto to the Shadow Beasts, then released it, sending me flying through them, killing them both instantly. I left even as their bodies blew apart and became another strange pattern in the sky. It was then that I noticed something to my left. There was a massive thing made of wood with a large arch at the top of it. It looked to be curved somewhat, but there didn't seem to be anything truly remarkable about it. Thing is, I never saw it there before.

"Hey, what's the holdup?" Midna said, kicking my sides impatiently. "Go and get those last Tears of Light already, will you?" I glared at her, but couldn't argue (for numerous reasons). I gave one last glance to that giant hunk of wood before leaving.

I kept an eye out for anything suspicious. I only needed to grab two more Tears. After that, Faron Woods would be free of the twilight. I followed what might've been the scent of those Shadow Insects, and soon found myself at the path that led up to the Forest Temple. I headed up the path and saw a spirit floating just above a short pole, two sparking things – obviously Shadow Insects – scampering around it. I let myself go into my heightened senses state and saw that the spirit was the monkey that had been captured along with Talo. She was shaking fearfully, calling out for help. I easily killed the bugs and grabbed one of the Tears before hearing the monkey speak again.

"Did someone… save me?" she asked aloud, looking around for her savior. She sighed in what must've been relief. "Sheesh, everything's been so crazy lately. First Boss Ook starts acting like a jerk, and now there are monsters and weird bugs all over the woods!" I couldn't help but nod in agreement to her complaints, even if I didn't know who this "Ook" character was. "I think I even saw him take those village kids into the temple for some reason." My eyes widened at this. The children were in the temple? I heard the monkey sigh to herself. "And now I'm talking to myself. I should really find the others soon."

After learning that tidbit of information regarding Ilia and the kids, I grabbed the last Tear of Light and let it flow into the vessel on my neck. My entire body suddenly felt warm, as if there was a gentle fire in my belly. I closed my eyes as light slowly filled my vision.

The light died down quickly, and I opened my eyes. I was back at the Faron Spring, but it was filled back its former glory. I saw the vessel that held the Tears of Light drift down into the water, looking as though it were merging with it. Midna appeared before me, floating in a lounging position.

"Aw, and just when I was starting to like this place," she complained. "What's so great about a world of light anyway?" I was about to respond, but she just giggled and said, "Well, see you later!" She then vanished into my shadow again.

I heard the familiar sound of a loud drip, like when I met Ordona, and a large orb of golden light rose from the spring. A body began to form around the orb, looking like a huge monkey of some kind. It swirled its form around the light, its massive tail arching around it. I now saw the monkey-like form of the Light Spirit of Faron Woods. He looked at me with large golden eyes. _"I'm Faron,"_ he said in a voice that didn't sound anything like what I had expected. He sounded a bit wilder, more mischievous. _"I'm the Light Spirit of these woods. I guess I should thank you for returning me to my former self. You've got my gratitude."_

"Um…" I hesitated somewhat. I didn't really think that he would talk like a normal person. "You're welcome… I guess."

_"Since you've returned the light to this province,"_ Faron continued, stopping to make a few monkey-like sounds, _"you have also been returned to your human form. Go ahead. Take a look at yourself, kid."_ I did as he said, and my eyes widened at my new look. I had thought that my clothes felt a little different, but I didn't expect a full-blown costume change; I was wearing a formfitting grass-green tunic, with pale brown leggings and brown leather boots. On my hand were fingerless gloves, the one on my left hand bearing a hardened guard. I could feel the sword and shield strapped onto my back, and that something was my head. I took it off and found that it was long, floppy cap that matched my new tunic.

"Wh-what in the world? What is all this?"

_"Your new outfit was once the same one worn by the legendary hero many generations ago,"_ Faron explained, making a few more "eeks" and "ooks" as he did so. _"Of course, it had to be retailored specifically for you, seeing as how the last one to wear it was a young man, not a girl."_

"Legendary hero?" I asked, not seeing what those old fairy tales had to do with me.

_"You see, you've been chosen by the gods as the next destined hero, just like many of your ancestors. It's your destiny to confront this newest threat to the Kingdom of Hyrule. You're the next in a long line of great heroes. Your name is Lyn Marian Ysond. You're the last and greatest hope that this land has."_

I couldn't think of a response. I was simply too dumbfounded to do so. Me? A legendary hero? That was about as likely as a horseless carriage being invented. I was just a girl from some farming village on the southern edge of the kingdom for crying out loud! How was I supposed to make a difference in anything? I guess Faron could read my thoughts through my face, because what he said next was somewhat comforting.

_"I know that this must be a bit of a shock to you,"_ he said in an understanding tone, _"but whether you believe it or not, you have the strength to do this thing. If you didn't, you never would've been chosen."_ He had a point about that, I guessed. _"However…" _There it was. The catch. _"… it'll be impossible for you to face the ruler of this pervading twilight with the power that you've got right now. In order to beat him, you'll have to match his power. Within the temple that lies deep within this forest, there's an ancient, dark power that no being from the light should touch. You'll have to find this power and its counterparts in order to face the King of Twilight."_

"But if I can't touch it, then how the hell am I supposed to use it?" I asked, not really seeing the logic in that.

_"Ask your shadow,"_ the Light Spirit replied cryptically. With that, he faded from existence, leaving me alone with the annoying little pest that was Midna. And speak of the devil…

"Boy, that's a surprise, isn't it?" she said as she jumped from my shadow and hovered in front of me. "So you're supposed to be some big-time hero girl, huh? Well, that explains why you didn't turn into a spirit like everybody else!"

"You know, I get the feeling that you know a lot more than what you let on," I stated bluntly, giving the imp a hard glare. "What did Faron mean when he that I had to match the Twilight King's power?"

"Oh, you'll see soon enough, Hylian," she teased with a giggle. I rolled my eyes in response to her cryptic reply. "By the way, do you plan on heading to that temple that that spirit mentioned?"

I sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. That monkey spirit said that the kids from my village were led into the temple, so I really should take a look."

The imp giggled playfully. "What a coincidence! I was planning on heading there myself! Let's get going, sister!"

"I'm not your sister," I muttered as she sunk into my shadow again. I headed down the path that led to the forest. Since the gate was locked, I would have to try and find a key to get past it. As I walked, a small weed a few feet ahead of me shook and trembled. Curious, I leaned a little bit closer. That was about when the large blue head shot out of the ground, snapping its toothy jaws at my face, making me jump back in surprise. I stared at the plantlike creature with wide eyes; that thing had nearly bitten my head off!

"My, my, aren't we jumpy!" Midna teased from my shadow.

"Shut up," I said back to her, not taking my eyes off of the blue-headed plant. I soon recognized it as a Deku Baba, carnivorous plants that eat any unwary creature that comes within its attack range. I drew out my sword and shield and waited for the plant to make the first blow. I didn't have to wait long, as the Baba attempted to attack again, but its head bounced off my shield, giving me an opening to cut the thing's head of. The blue head of the Baba rolled on the ground and hardened after a few seconds. I sheathed my weapons and continued down the path, taking a right to pay a visit to the lantern guy.

He seemed to be either asleep or just really spaced out as I approached, as he didn't react to my presence at all. I couldn't help but notice that he had a bird's nest in his hair, which was quite an odd sight. After a few seconds, I coughed into my hand, catching his attention. "Whoa, sorry about that," he said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "I didn't get a whole lot of sleep the other night. Lot of monsters running around these days."

"Tell me about it," I said in full agreement, but I knew for a fact that this guy didn't even know the half of it. "Hey, do you know where I can get a key to get past the gate?"

"The gate to the forest?" he asked in reply. I nodded affirmatively. "I don't know. I locked that thing up to keep the worse monsters out and away. And besides, you're just a girl. They'll eat you up and spit you out in a second."

I narrowed my eyes at his comment. "I'll have you know," I said adamantly, "that I've dealt with monsters before. I can take care of myself just fine, thank you." He didn't look completely reassured, but after a few seconds, he finally nodded.

"Well, all right. You do look like you're geared up for it. Just be careful out there, all right?" I nodded as he reached into one of his pockets and pulled out the key and handed it to me. I nodded again to show my appreciation and headed for the gate. I turned the key in the lock, which fell to the ground with a heavy _thud!_ I was just about to walk through the tunnel ahead when I heard the lantern guy yell "Wait!" I turned to face him. He was running over to me, carrying a lantern in his hand. He stopped, panting slightly, and held the lantern up. "You're going to need one of these if you want to get through here without getting lost. There's plenty of dark places that you'll need a lantern in."

I sighed in slight annoyance. "How much?" I asked.

He shook his. "This is for free. Every new customer gets the first lantern free of charge. It's a business strategy. If you want, I can sell you an extra bottle of oil for if you run out. Won't be cheap though."

I took the lantern. "So, how much for the bottle of oil?"

"That'll be a hundred Rupees, miss." My face fell a little. That was almost all the money that I had. I sighed in defeat and brought out my wallet. The lantern salesman held out a bottle of oil in one hand, and held his other hand ready. I dumped the contents of my wallet out into his palm; a purple Rupee, two red ones, and two blues. A yellow Rupee also fell out, but he was good enough to return it to me, in addition to handing over the bottle. "Thanks for your business, ma'am!" he said as he stuffed the gems into his pocket and walked away.

I looked at the lantern and bottle that were now in my hands. A thought suddenly occurred to me; where would I put them? It's not like I had a backpack to put them in or anything. "Midna?" I called the imp.

"What is it?" she asked in an annoyed tone. I still to this very day find it amazing that she would always say things to annoy people, but when asked to do something herself, she would act as it were something trivial and unimportant.

"Do you think you can do that thing you did with the sword and shield before?" I asked genuine curiosity. "You know, how you 'held onto them?'"

"I can't do that in the light world," she explained. "I'm not strong enough. I was only able to do that earlier because this area was covered in twilight at the time. It's also why I didn't store the sword and shield away before we came here."

"Oh. Well, how am I supposed to carry these things?" I held up the lantern and bottle to specify.

"You've got a pouch on your belt, genius," she pointed out. I checked to see if she was right, and, of course, she was. But it was barely bigger than my fist. "If your new duds use to belong to some magical hero, then maybe it's magic or something. Try it."

I sighed and did so, placing the lantern into the pouch first. I was amazed when it went in without any kind of resistance. I tried it with the bottle, and that worked perfectly as well. Needless to say, I was a bit surprised. With that dilemma solved, Midna dropped into my shadow again, and I made my way through the tunnel that led into the forest.

-o-

I mentally cursed at myself as I picked my empty lantern up off the ground. The very same monkey that had been kidnapped along with Talo had taken the lantern and led me through the dark fog that enshrouded most of the forest. Midna had berated me for not paying enough attention, which was actually true. My mind had wandered off to a few old memories from when I was little. Everything had seemed so simple back then. The whole world was black and white, and easy to understand. Oh, how things change so drastically.

After refilling my lantern with the extra oil that I bought from that salesman, I continued on my way, heading for the temple. I once again noticed that huge wooden thing, but paid it little mind as I walked past it. The forest sounded as though it had become a bit more peaceful. I could hear the chirps and calls of birds and the louds yelps of monkeys in the distance. I began to wonder about what Faron had told me. He had said that my ancestors had also been heroes chosen by the gods. How many of my blood family members had been heroes?

As I pondered this, I heard the sound of a dog panting a few feet ahead. Having been brought back from my musing, I could see a golden wolf sitting before me, blocking my path to the temple. Its left eye was a bright red, and seemed to be brimming with intelligence. Its right eye was closed and seemed heavily scarred. It seemed to glow as though it was a spirit of some kind. It suddenly went into a position so that it could pounce me, growling viciously. I quickly drew my sword and shield, ready to fight. The golden wolf then jumped, and just as it was about to land…

Everything went blank… though not for long.

I moaned as I picked myself up off the ground, my sword and shield still in my hands. I looked around at my surroundings – or lack thereof. Everything seemed to be a misty white, though I could spot a mountain in the distance, as well as a forest. I could also hear a wolf's panting behind me, but that slowly became the deep breaths of a grown man. I turned to face the stranger, but froze at the sight.

The guy I saw was literally a skeleton wearing filthy, moss-covered armor, brandishing a rusty long sword and a mossy shield. His left eye socket glowed red, just like the golden wolf's eye had. The skeletal warrior dropped into a fighting stance, prepared to take and dish out blows. I sunk into a stance as well, ready to fight. I ran at the enemy and slashed at him, but he easily, almost lazily, blocked my attack, hit me with his shield, and then slammed the flat of his blade into my gut.

As I lay on the ground in pain, I heard the warrior say in a raspy voice, "A blade holds no strength unless the one who wields it has courage." I slowly got back up to my feet and glared at the armored skeleton. "You may be the one chosen by the gods to purge evil from this world, but your current level of so-called 'skill' would disgrace the proud green of the hero's tunic you wear."

"Go ahead and tell me what you really think," I replied.

The skull-faced man glowered at me. "Young one," he said seriously, "you have much to learn. And you must learn with haste. I have come to you so that I may pass on my knowledge to you. I shall teach you a certain skills that can only be learned by one of the heroes selected by the gods."

"Wait, you're going to teach me these skills?" I asked, my suspicion replaced by surprise. "Does that mean that you used to be one of those heroes?"

The skeleton gave no answer to my question. "The first technique that I shall teach you is necessary for finishing many an enemy. It is called the Ending Blow."

-o-

I awoke back in the forest, remembering the encounter with the skeletal warrior with perfect clarity. He had taught me the Ending Blow, which I could use to finish a downed enemy. He also told me that if I wanted to learn a new skill, I would have to find things called Howling Stones.

"Hey!" I heard Midna call. "Sheesh, it's about time you woke up. You just randomly pulled out your sword and shield and passed out. What happened?"

"Didn't you see the wolf?" I asked.

"What wolf?"

That piqued my curiosity. That warrior, who apparently wanted to be called Shade, was invisible to Midna. That could only mean that I had just been seeing things, or I was the only one who could see him. I shook my head. "Never mind," I said simply. I guess Midna accepted it, seeing as how she never brought the subject up again. I managed stand steadily and continued on the path to the Forest Temple. The entrance to the temple was dark and foreboding, something that I was growing used to relatively quickly. I brought out my lantern and lit it, holding it up to light the darkness ahead of me. Mustering up all of my courage, I stepped inside, not knowing what dangers I may have to face.


End file.
